Attaching and detaching mechanism for a front operating panel of a vehicle-mounted audio unit

ABSTRACT

Coupling between a unit main body and a front panel is detachably carried out by a catch and a device coupling device. The coupling includes a slide provided with a slide plate that slides with respect to a bracket embedded in the unit main body, and a holder is provided at a front face of the slide plate for holding the front panel.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to attaching and detaching mechanismssuitable for application to vehicle-mounted audio units.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, in audio units such as cassette player, CD (CompactDisc) player or DVDs (Digital Versatile Disc), which are recordingand/or reproducing devices, various units of vehicle-mountedspecifications come into wide use. In such vehicle-mounted units, therearises a problem that the unit may be stolen while a driver is away fromhis/her vehicle.

For this reason, the countermeasures are taken such that the audio unitis constructed to have a unit main body and an operating part divided,for example, wherein the operating part is detachable with respect tothe unit main body. When leaving the vehicle, the driver detaches theoperating part from the unit main body to carry it with him/her. Sincethe unit main body cannot operate without operating part, there is nopossibility of theft of the unit main body.

With the vehicle-mounted audio unit having an operating part detachableas described above, a conventional example of a mechanism for attachingand detaching the operating part to and from the unit main body isdescribed in Japanese Patent JP-A 7-156719, which is constructed asfollows:

As shown in FIGS. 10, 11, and 12, an audio unit 1 comprises a unit mainbody 2 and a front panel 3 as an operating part. The front panel 3 isprovided with operating buttons 4 and a display 5, and is formed with acassette opening 6 b corresponding to a cassette loading mouth 6 a ofthe unit main body 2. Moreover, connection terminals 7 a, 7 b arearranged for electrical connection upon mounting of the front panel 3.

Next, the structure for attaching and detaching the front panel 3 willbe described. The unit main body 2 is formed with blind plate 8 forreceiving the front panel 3 and a frame 8 a at the periphery of theblind plate 8. There are arranged catching means 9 for catching one sideor the right side of the front panel 3 and coupling means 10 forcoupling another side or the left side of the front panel 3.

The catching means 9 comprise a pair of protrusions 11 formed on theframe 8 and a pair of engaging portions 12 formed with the front panel3. The coupling means 10 comprise a mounting support plate 13, an arm14, a holder 15, an extension coil spring 16 and a spring 17 normallyelastically biased in the direction of center X as shown in FIG. 12, andan engaging recess 18 as shown in FIG. 11.

FIG. 14 shows the state of the front panel 3 attached. Since the arm 14having a pin 14 a and a release operating part 14 b integrated therewithand formed out of synthetic resin is rotatable about pins 13 a, and thespring 16 is greater in biasing force than the spring 17, the engagementis maintained between engaging portions 15 a of the holder 15 mounted tothe arm 14 to be rotatable about the pin 14 a and pins 13 b. Thus, anengaging portion 15 b is engaged with the engaging recess 18, holdingthe attached state of the front panel 3.

When detaching the front panel 3, a release button 19 is pushed. Then,the release button 19 is protruded from the back of the front panel 3(state in FIG. 13B) against a biasing force of a spring 20 to push therelease operating part 14 b. Then, the arm 14 is pushed backward againsta biasing force of the spring 16 as shown in FIG. 15, in accordance withwhich the engaging portions 15 a are disengaged from the pins 13 b by abiasing force of the spring 17. The front panel 3 is pushed forward by abiasing force of the spring 17. Then, as shown in FIG. 16, the frontpanel 3 is pushed further forward by the action of the spring 17.

In the state in FIG. 16, the engaging portion 15 b is engaged with theengaging recess 18, holding the attached state of the front panel 3. Inthis state, when taking the front panel 3 by hand and disengaging theengaging portion 15 b from the engaging recess 18, the front panel 3 cancompletely be detached from the unit main body 2.

Next, when attaching the front panel 3, the pair of engaging portions 12is engaged with the pair of protrusions 11 in FIG. 11, and then the leftside of the front panel 3 is pushed in. Then, the engaging portion 15 bis engaged with the engaging recess 18, attaching the front panel 3 tothe unit main body 1 as shown in FIG. 14.

However, as seen from FIG. 14, since the coupling of the coupling means10 is carried out by engaging the engaging portion 15 b with theengaging recess 18, a large play between the two may cause falling outof the front panel 3 due to easy disengagement, while a small play maycause breakage of the engaging portion 15 b and the engaging recess 18.Thus, fine combination verification is needed every time a metal mold ofthe front panel 3 is formed, leading to complicated and troublesomework.

Therefore, the present invention aims to provide attaching and detachingmechanisms which are free from such problem.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

One embodiment of the invention provides an attaching and detachingmechanism wherein in order to attach and detach an operating part to andfrom a unit main body, the mechanism is provided with coupling means fordetachably coupling another side of the operating part with one side ofthe operating part caught through catching means, characterized in thatsaid coupling means comprise slide means having a slide member providedto said unit main body and for sliding to and fro, and holding meansprovided at a front end of said slide member and for holding saidoperating part.

The invention is constructed such that said slide means comprise firstbiasing means for biasing said slide member forward, lock means forrestraining said slide means in the backward moved state against abiasing force of said first biasing means, and release means forreleasing lock by said lock means.

The invention is formed such that said holding means comprise a pair ofclaws provided at the front end of said. slide member and for carryingout holding, and a held part formed with said operating part and held bythe pair of claws.

The invention also provides that at least one of said pair of claws isalways biased in the direction of holding the held part.

The invention is also formed such that at least one of said pair ofclaws includes a rotatable and movable claw, and second biasing meansare arranged for biasing the movable claws in the direction of holdingsaid held part.

The invention is constructed so that both of said pair of claws includea rotatable and movable claw, and second biasing means are arranged forbiasing the respective movable claws in the direction of holding saidheld part.

The invention provides that both of said pair of claws are formed out ofan elastically deformable material to open in flexible deformation ofthe respective claws.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment 1 of an audio unit with afront panel removed, using an attaching and detaching mechanismaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of coupling means in the embodiment 1 of anaudio unit using an attaching and detaching mechanism according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the embodiment 1 of anattaching and detaching mechanism according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 are associated with the embodiment 1 of an attaching anddetaching mechanism, with the front panel attached, according to thepresent invention, wherein FIG. 4A is a front view, and FIG. 4B is abottom view;

FIG. 5 is a front view showing the embodiment 1 of an attaching anddetaching mechanism, with another end of the front panel drawn out,according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a front view showing the embodiment 1 of an attaching anddetaching mechanism, with another end of the front panel removed from apair of claws by drawing out it, according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 are associated with the coupling means in an embodiment 2 of anaudio unit using an attaching and detaching mechanism according to thepresent invention, wherein FIG. 7A is a front view, and FIG. 7B is aright side view;

FIG. 8 are associated with the coupling means in an embodiment 3 of anaudio unit using an attaching and detaching mechanism according to thepresent invention, wherein 8A is a front view, and FIG. 8B is a rightside view;

FIG. 9 are associated with the coupling means in an embodiment 4 of anaudio unit using an attaching and detaching mechanism according to thepresent invention, wherein 9A is a front view, and FIG. 9B is a rightside view;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an audio unit using a conventionalattaching and detaching mechanism;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the audio unit using conventionalattaching and detaching mechanism with the front panel opened;

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view of the coupling means of theaudio unit using conventional attaching and detaching mechanism;

FIG. 13 are explanatory views for a release button of the audio unitusing conventional attaching and detaching mechanism;

FIG. 14 is an operation explanatory view for the audio unit usingconventional attaching and detaching mechanism when attaching the frontpanel;

FIG. 15 is an operation explanatory view for the audio unit usingconventional attaching and detaching mechanism when pushing the releasebutton; and

FIG. 16 is an operation explanatory view for the audio unit usingconventional attaching and detaching mechanism when opening another endof the front panel.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

A description is made hereafter about embodiments of an attaching anddetaching mechanism according to the present invention applied to anaudio unit.

a) Embodiment 1

First, the embodiment 1 is described with reference to FIG. 1. Since thepresent invention is involved with modification of the coupling means 10only out of the catching means 9 and the coupling means 10 fordetachably coupling the unit main body 2 and the front panel 3 of theconventional audio unit, only the coupling means 10 is described.

As shown in FIG. 2, the coupling means 10 comprise slide means 33 andholding means 28. The slide means 33 are constructed as follows. Asshown in FIG. 3, a bracket hardware 22 having a C-shaped section ismounted inside the blind plate 8 of the unit main body 1 throughmounting parts 22 b, 22 c. A pair of pins 23 is arranged to protrudefrom the facing sides of upper and lower side plates. The pair of pins23 is engaged with a pair of grooves 24 a formed in a slide plate (slidemember) 24 made of resin. The slide plate 24 is slidable to and fro withrespect to the bracket hardware. A spring (first biasing means) 25 isarranged between spring hooks 22 a, 24 e to bias the slide plate 24forward. Moreover, a lock lever (lock means) 26 is arranged to lock theslide plate 24 in the backward pressed state against a biasing force ofthe spring 25. The lock lever 26 is rotatably arranged through a pair ofpins 27 protruding from the upper and lower side plates of the brackethardware 22 in the opposite directions. The lock lever 26 has a lockrecess 26 a formed in the side facing the slide plate 24 at the positionaway from an axis of rotation connecting the pair of pins 27, whereasthe slide plate 24 has a protrusion 24 b formed at the position facingthe lock recess 26 a. An extension spring 32 is arranged between springhooks 26 b, 22 d to bias the lock recess 26 a toward the protrusion 24b.

Holding means 28 are arranged at a front end of the slide plate 24. Theholding means 28 comprise a stationary claw and a movable claw. There isarranged L-shaped stationary claw 29 which is integrated with a lowerportion of the slide plate 24 and has a convex 29 a formed at the tip toextend upward. There is arranged movable claw 30 in an upper portion ofthe slide plate 24. The movable claw 30 is rotatably mounted to theslide plate 24 through a rotation shaft 30 c integrated with the movableclaw 30 and is biased in the holding direction through an extension coilspring (second biasing means) 34 arranged between spring hooks 30 b, 24c. A stopper 24 d is integrally formed with the slide plate 24 to stopthe movable claw 30 in the most closed state. A convex 30 a is formedalso on the underside of the movable claw 30. In order that when pushingthe front panel 3 toward the holding means 28, the movable claw 30 maybe lifted about the rotation shaft 30 c against a resilient force of thespring 34, a taper face 30 d is formed on a front face of the convex 30a.

On the other hand, a held part 31 to be held by the holding means 28 isformed on the back of the front panel 3. The structure of the held part31 is described below. As shown in FIG. 4A, the held part 31 is formedby a pair of roughly L-shaped protrusions 31 a protruding backward fromthe front panel 3, and has recesses 31 b formed above and below theupper and lower protrusions 31 a to facilitate claw holding. Taper faces31 c, 31 c are formed on the back of the upper and lower protrusions 31a to open the distance between the stationary claw 29 and the movableclaw 30 for holding when pushing the front panel 3 backward. On theother hand, a taper face 31 d is formed on the front of the lowerprotrusion 31 a to disengage the held part 31 held by the holding means28 when slightly applying a force.

As shown in FIGS. 4A-4B, in the present invention as well, there arearranged the same release button (release means) 19 and spring 20 as theconventional ones. By pushing the tip of the release button 19 backward,the lock lever 26 is slightly rotated about the pin 23 against a biasingforce of the spring 32. Specifically, a circular part 26 c is integrallyformed with the lock lever 26 to release a restraint of the slide plate24 by disengaging the lock recess 26 a from the protrusion 24 b byrotation of the lock lever 26.

Next, operation of such attaching and detaching mechanism is described.When pushing the release button 19 with the front panel 3 attached, therelease button 19 is pressed backward against a basing force of thespring 20, thus pressing the circular part 26 c (state in FIG. 4B). Thiscauses slight rotation of the lock lever 26 to release the engagement ofthe lock recess 26 a of the lock lever 26 with the protrusion 24 b. Andthe slide plate 24 is slid forward by a biasing force of the spring 25.As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, another end of the front panel 3 ispushed out, and the front panel 3 is slightly rotated about one endthereof.

In this state, when grasping and drawing out another end of the frontpanel 3, small torque is applied to the movable claw 30, which isrotated in the open direction against a biasing force of the spring 34.With this, as shown in FIG. 6, the front panel 3 can be disengaged fromthe movable claw 30. And by disengaging the catching means 9, the wholeof the front panel 3 can be removed.

Next, when attaching the front panel 3 to the unit main body 2, one endsof the front panel 3 and the unit main body 2 are engaged with eachother, i.e. the catching means 9 are engaged, and another end of thefront panel 3 is pushed toward the unit main body 2. Then, due tointeraction between the upper and lower taper faces 31 c, 31 c on theback of the held part 31 of the front panel 3 and the taper face 30 b ofthe movable claw 30, a force operates on the movable claw 30 to open it,while a force operates on the slide plate 24 to push it backward.

Here, the spring constant of the spring 34 is smaller than that of thespring 25, so that with the movable claw 30 opened, the movable claw 30and the stationary claw 29 pass the pair of protrusions 31 a, and thenthe movable claw 30 is closed to allow the holding means 28 to hold theheld part 31. Subsequently, the slide plate 24 is moved backward againsta biasing force of the spring 25 for displacement up to the positionwhere secure attachment of the front panel 3 is achieved. At that point,the lock lever 26 is rotated by a biasing force of the spring 32 toallow a restraint of displacement of the protrusion 24 b through thelock recess 26 a, obtaining locking of the slide plate 24 with thespring 25 being in the loaded state.

It is noted that the upper claw may be a stationary claw, and the lowerclaw may be a movable claw.

b) Embodiment 2

Next, the embodiment 2 is shown in FIGS. 7A-7B, wherein only the holdingmeans in the embodiment 1 are modified. Specifically, the lower claw hasthe same structure as the upper movable claw in place of the stationaryclaw, and a single extension coil spring 35 is arranged to bias a pairof movable claws 30 in the holding direction.

In such attaching and detaching mechanism, since both claws are rotated,holding and releasing of the held part by the holding means are carriedout with light and soft touch.

The other structures and operation are the same as those of theembodiment 1, so that a description thereof is omitted.

c) Embodiment 3

Next, the embodiment 3 is shown in FIGS. 8A-8B. In the embodiment 3, thespring provides a biasing force to a pair of movable claws, whereas inthis embodiment, a pair of stationary claws 36 is integrally formed withthe slide plate 24, and those are integrally made of resin such asepoxy, polycarbonate or the like. Since a resilient force of resin isavailable in place of a biasing force of the spring, the cross-sectionalarea of the pair of claws 36 is set at a small value to provideexcellent flexibility.

Operation of such attaching and detaching mechanism is similar to thatin the embodiment 2.

The other structures and operation are the same as those of theembodiment 1, so that a description thereof is omitted.

d) Embodiment 4

Finally, the embodiment 4 is shown in FIGS. 9A-9B, which is similar tothe embodiment 3 in that a pair of claws is closed by the action of aresilient force, but wherein an U-shaped single claw unit 38 comprisinga pair of stationary claws 37 a formed out of a single plate made ofmetal with excellent resilient force such as stainless steel, phosphorbronze or the like is mounted to the slide plate 24 by means of screws,not shown, or welding of resin. A returning force of the metal platewhen being bent operates as a holding force, producing the sameoperation as in the embodiment 3.

The other structures and operation are the same as those of theembodiment 1, so that a description thereof is omitted.

In the embodiments 1-4, the attaching and detaching mechanism is appliedto vehicle-mounted audio units, alternatively, it can be applied tohousehold audio units or television sets.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABLITY

As is seen from the above description, the attaching and detachingmechanism according to the present invention is useful forvehicle-mounted and household audio units, television sets, etc.,particularly, it is suitable when small size and holding and releasingwith excellent feel are required

1. An attaching and detaching mechanism for attaching and detaching anoperating part to and from a unit main body, the mechanism comprising:catching means; and coupling means for detachably coupling one side ofsaid operating part with another side of said operating part caught bysaid catching means, wherein said coupling means includes slide meanshaving a slide member provided in said unit main body for sliding in andout of said main body, and holding means provided at a front end of saidslide member for holding said operating part, and said slide meansfurther comprising first biasing means for biasing said slide member ina forward direction, lock means for restraining said slide means in abackward-moved state against a biasing force of said first biasingmeans, and release means for releasing a lock state of said lock means,and when said release means releases said lock state of said lock means,said slide member slides in said forward direction pushing out saidoperating part, wherein said holding means comprise a pair of clawsprovided at a front end of said slide member for carrying out holding ofa held part formed with said operating part.
 2. The attaching anddetaching mechanism as specified in claim 1, wherein at least one ofsaid pair of claws is biased in a direction of holding the held part. 3.The attaching and detaching mechanism as specified in claim 2, whereinat least one of said pair of claws includes a rotatable and movableclaw, and further comprising second biasing means arranged for biasingthe rotatable and movable claw in the direction of holding said heldpart.
 4. The attaching and detaching mechanism as specified in claim 3,wherein both of said pair of claws rotatable and movable, and furthercomprising second biasing means arranged for biasing both the rotatableand movable claws in the direction of holding said held part.
 5. Theattaching and detaching mechanism as specified in claim 3, wherein bothof said pair of claws are formed of an elastically deformable materialso as to open in flexible deformation of the respective claws.